Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera makes spring debut in win over Yankees that had an opening day vibe

AP PhotoDetroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera watches as his ball sails foul during the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the New York Yankees on Monday.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Monday’s game had a definite opening day vibe.

The Detroit Tigers played the New York Yankees on the last day of February with pretty much the same lineup manager Jim Leyland will put on the card on the last day of March, when they open the regular season at Yankee Stadium.

And the Bronx Bombers brought a stronger-than-usual Grapefruit League travel squad featuring six All-Stars at the top of the batting order.

It was Justin Verlander versus CC Sabathia. The big difference here was that the starters both went just two shutout innings apiece, and were not involved in the decision.
The Tigers, now 3-0 in the Grapefruit League, came away 6-2 winners with Ryan Strieby’s two-run single in the seventh inning putting them ahead.

All-Star first baseman Miguel Cabrera made his spring training debut, which had been delayed after missing the first week of workouts while being assessed by Major League Baseball for an alcohol abuse treatment program. He grounded out twice to third baseman Alex Rodriguez and walked. Fans gave him a nice round of applause before his first at-bat.

“I heard the cheers and it made me feel good to get that support,” Cabrera said.

Asked about getting a possibly mixed reaction on the road, Cabrera said, “I just play baseball -- go out there and play hard. How afraid are you going to be?”

He won’t travel to Clearwater to play the Philadelphia Phillies today in a split-squad game, and will once again serve as the designated hitter in Lakeland against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cabrera, the runner-up for American League MVP in 2010, was asked about how the quality of his at-bats will improve with time.

“I can do better with those pitches,” he said.

When might his timing be right?

“Hopefully, one more game,” he said before laughing. “You don’t want to look bad in this game.”

Verlander added, “He’s integral to this ballclub’s success.”

Even though this was a game that wouldn’t figure into the stats on the back of baseball cards, Verlander could feel his pulse quicken a bit.

“Everybody will be amped up for their first time off the mound in spring,” he said. “You get a little amped up whether it is the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees or Philadelphia.”

Verlander allowed two hits and two walks in two scoreless innings, and his lone strikeout came when he froze left fielder Justin Maxwell with a curveball up in the strike zone. He said that wasn’t one of his better curves because of its high location, but was pleased with his bread-and-butter pitch.

“The curveball is a big part of my game,” Verlander said. “It allows me to elevate my fastball…My breaking ball was not jumping out like it normally does, but they were still late on it.”

He got Derek Jeter to ground out and Rodriguez to fly out to center. Mark Teixeira and catcher Francisco Cervelli got singles off him.

“My bullpens were very good and my batting practice (throwing sessions) were a step back,” Verlander said. “My goal today was to stay in a rhythm and not get jumpy, and I did that.

“It felt like I had to deal with a little bit of dead arm. Sometimes I go through a dead arm period and sometimes I don’t. But everything feels strong and good.”

Verlander picked off Robinson Cano at second base in the first inning.

“He was fine, getting his work in his first outing,” Leyland said.

Leyland wrote out what could very well be his opening day batting order with a few position changes: Austin Jackson, CF; Ryan Raburn, LF; Magglio Ordonez, RF; Miguel Cabrera, DH; Victor Martinez, 1B; Jhonny Peralta, SS; Brandon Inge, 3B; Scott Sizemore, 2B; and Alex Avila, C.

“If you want to say that, it’s a possibility,” Leyland said of that order being the same on March 31. “But that depends; we’ll see.”